Beautiful and Lost
by yagmuysu
Summary: SALEX AU. "He stared at her as she swayed with the music. He was fascinated, he'd seen many ballet performances, but none like this. It was almost as if he could feel everything she felt. A huge wave of emotions hit him as he stood watching her. It was obvious by her moves that she was in pain, not physical but pure raw emotional pain. She looked so lost and fragile."
1. April 20th, 2013

Oh god, I can't believe I'm doing this! My very first story and I'm way too nervous!

There are two people I have to thank to. Two amazing authors that encouraged me to write this. And if it hadn't been for them, I wouldn't even consider writing this =) I dedicate this story to them, my best friend who actually _forced_ me to write this story and the always-amazing wootar16 who corrected my mistakes and made this chapter much better than it actually was =) I love both of you sooo much!

ANd of course I don't own anything! =(

* * *

2 am she read on her phone. She buried her face in her pillow with a sigh. She wanted to sleep. She really wanted to sleep. The past 3 hours had been spent tossing and turning. After another unsuccessful 20 minutes she realized sleep was not going to come tonight, she got dressed and ran out the door to the only place that relaxed her.

* * *

"Shit!" He said aloud. As soon as he had placed his head on his pillow he had remembered he was supposed to do something. His mother had called to remind him at least 15 times but as usual, he'd forgotten. He through on a t-shirt and quickly left his apartment only to return a minute later to get the cell phone that remained on his bedside table. "This is going to be a long night" he sighed walking, for the second time, out his front door.

* * *

She slowly walked into the studio which felt more like home than her empty apartment. The bright white lights flickered on as she took off her coat and turned on some music. Dancing was the only thing she had left from her past. There was always a brief moment each time she danced, where she closed her eyes and went back to her childhood. She felt as though she was back home in Russia in her childhood home dancing to the music her mother played on the piano. She felt her parents presence with her and more than anything she felt safe. But reality always hit her when she opened her eyes again and the reality of what had transpired over the past years hit her like a wall. So, here she was. In an empty studio at 2 o'clock in the morning trying to reach her parents. As the music played it took over her entire body, and later she would close her eyes and dream of her past.

Sean walked through the halls of the Art Academy. There was a large fundraiser that his mother was hosting that was coming up on Friday. She always wanted every thing to be perfect so she had asked him to go to the Arts Academy and make sure the flowers were there and that everything she had planned was in order. Sean could've simply told her that everything was perfect without even bothering to drive there, especially given that it was the middle of the night. But he'd hate to disappoint his mother. They were so close and she trusted him more than anyone, he wasn't going to damage their trust over a stupid fundraiser.

He went to the ball room, checked on everything and headed to the main door. As he was leaving he was surprised to see light coming from under one of the studio doors. Curiosity got the better of him as he went to see who was was when he first saw her. In the middle of the room was a young, very beautiful women dancing. She was dancing an extremely difficult ballet and yet she was preforming it with an almost unimaginable amount of grace.

He stared at her as she swayed with the music. He was fascinated, he'd seen many ballet performances, but none like this. It was almost as if he could feel everything she felt. A huge wave of emotions hit him as he stood watching her. It was obvious by her moves that she was in pain, not physical but pure raw emotional pain. He watched her close her eyes. She looked so lost and fragile.

Sean saw the tears run down her cheeks. He just wanted to go in there, hold her and make everything alright for her. It confused him to think how easily this woman took control of his feelings. It was like he'd known her all his life. She looked so perfect, so angelic. All of a sudden she collapsed to the floor and buried her face in her hands. She was trembling. He didn't even stop to think as he rushed into the studio to comfort her.

The sound of the door opening startled her. Her head shot up to the source of the noise. Her eyes landed on a tall dark brown haired man who was standing in the doorway. She looked up at him, her red, puffy eyes full shock. He stared back at her, her eyes paralyzed him. Those big, sea blues eyes were the most beautiful he'd ever seen. Looking in her eyes hurt him, because he could see the pain that was hidden behind them.

He ran over to where she had fallen and gently placed an arm around her shoulder. When he felt her tense beneath his touch he quickly pulled his arm away from her. "I..I'm sorry.. I shouldn't have." He managed to stutter out, standing up from his place on the floor.

"No, no! I'm sorry." She said as she got up and began to gather her things. " I know I'm not allowed to come here this late." she continued avoiding eye contact with him.

Sean then understood who she thought he was. "I don't work here."

"Excuse me?" She asked confused.

"I was just around and when I saw the light... I ..watched you dance. When you fell I thought you had maybe hurt yourself and I wanted to make sure you were okay." his voice was unsteady and his palms had started sweating. 'Unbelievable Sean!' He thought to himself 'Act like a teenager! Good job!' There was a very awkward silence that fell over them which seemed to last forever.

"I'd better go" she said awkwardly as she ran out the door.

Sean gave himself a mental slap in the face as he too walked out of the building. He should have stopped her, asked her name. Something. As soon as he lay down in his bed he knew he wouldn't find sleep. Whenever he closed his eyes, her beautiful ones were there, staring at him. She had enchanted him. He had to see her again. Someday, somehow.

* * *

The next evening at his mother's fundraiser he did see her again. It was brief, she pretended that she didn't see him and walked away. But he knew she had seen him, just as he had seen her. Seeing her again gave him hope that one day he would see her again, maybe even long enough for them to have a proper conversation. After the event he asked the people who worked there if they knew who this mysterious women was. He finally got an answer and discovered she was a teacher for the junior ballet classes. A grin appeared on his face when an idea to see her again popped into his head.

* * *

She was so embarrassed! The way she was dancing no one had ever seen her like that, she hadn't let them. But the one time someone did it was an extremely good looking man who just walked in like that. Like it was any of his business! She didn't understand how someone could do that. She was obviously doing something very private! How could they just walk in?

But she understood his actions the next day when she saw him again at the big event, arm in arm with Senator Madeline Pierce. Of course, she should have remembered his face from the newspapers. He was the cocky son of the rich senator. She pretended not to see him and walked past him to her class hoping he hadn't seen her too.

That dance was a way to reconnect to her parents. Her father had taught her all the skills to be strong and survive on her own but her mother insisted that she wanted her precious Alexandra to grow up to be an elegant and graceful woman. So she started to take ballet lessons, at first she hated doing them. Her father thought it was simply a waste of time, being a daddy's girl she didn't like whatever he didn't like. Despite her best efforts to dislike it after a few lessons she fell in love.

She found ballet to be the most relaxing thing she's ever done. It soon became the only thing she wanted to do, music always found a way to take control of her body. She realized that she didn't even think about anything while she danced. Even though her father continued to look at dancing as a waste of time, he never missed a recital. Not one. He was always the first one to stand up applauding. Even once she could've sworn there were tears in his eyes. He was proud of her. That was why she decided to teach ballet after all these years, she wanted to make her parents proud again.

* * *

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	2. April 27th, 2013

The maid came in with a hot cup of tea and served it to Madeline who gave her a polite smile in return.

" The fundraiser was a huge success." She said after taking a sip. " A few magazines want to come for an interview tomorrow. I would really appreciate it if you and your sister could join me too. Why is she late anyway?" She paused for a moment to checked the time.

" They especially requested you, Sean. You made quiet an appearance that night." She continued with a smile. She then realized how distracted Sean was. He was there, but his mind was somewhere else. "Have you heard from your sister?" She asked trying to get her attention but he didn't even look up from his iPhones screen. "Sean?" She repeated. " did you hear anything from Sandy?"

"Sorry.. I haven't been sleeping much lately. And yes, she called me this morning saying she was safe and sound and it was a sunny day in Florida."

"We should go there for a vacation sometime. Remember when you father used to load everyone in the car and drive all the way there just because 'planes weren't safe enough' " she chuckled. Sean understood by the look on her face that it was still painful to remember him.

After their father died, Sean and his two older sister made a promise to their mother that they would spend saturday afternoons together, as a family. And for years they kept their promise.

Sean adored his mother and sisters. But there was a much more special lady in his life, his precious niece Katie. They had an amazing relationship that grew even stronger in the past five months. Katie's father had to go abroad for work and he only came once a month for a couple of days. So now, Sean was the only man figure she had in her life. Katie adored Sean as much as he did. She always looked up to him. They had a relationship more than just being an uncle and niece. They loved each other in a way no one could comprehend. He was a best friend to her. And for Sean , she was the most important thing in the whole world. That's how much he loved her.

Katie came running to her grandma's enormous living room with a huge grin on her face when she saw Sean she went straight to her uncle's arms. That little girl made him feel special, and he sure as hell did anything to make her feel special too.

"Well, hello there princess!" He said and twirled her in the air. She smiled happily as she landed back on her feet. "How was your lesson?" He continued with a smile on his face which only appeared when Katie was around.

"They let me ride the big white horse today Sean!" she said excitedly with a proud smile.

"_Uncle_ Sean." Jill corrected her , coming through the hall.

Katie ignored her mother and continued talking with the same enthusiasm "Mommy said I looked just like a princess! Like the ones that wear beautiful dresses and have unicorns as a pet!"

"But you alway look like a princess, _princess_" Sean smiled.

The little blond girl giggled at her uncle's flattering words. She gave him a warm hug and he carried her back to the sofa.

"Hello Katie. You rode the white horse your grandpa bought for your auntie Sany? I'm so proud of you!"

"Thank you grandma!"

"Katie, go give you grandma a kiss." Jill said as she entered the living room.

Katie moved towards her grandmother who looked at her , smiling. She was actually a really though woman but had a soft spot for her granddaughter. To say Jill was similar to her mom would be an understatement. She was exactly like her. She loved her daughter and raised her with love. But like the dominant woman she was , they had rules too. Katie was a precious kid and wouldn't do anything wrong so the rules were hardly ever used. Jill couldn't tell how proud she was when Katie rode the white horse that day. She felt like her daughter was growing up really fast.

"Katie?" Sean asked and the little girl lifted up her head looking at him with her big green eyes.

"Remember when grandma had her big party the other day?"

"The one I wasn't allowed to go to?" Katie frowned.

Sean smiled at her change of expression.

"Yes, that one. Well the party was in this huge arts academy and there was this long hallway with pictures hung on the walls. I saw some pictures of girls about your age dancing ballet. So then I thought, why doesn't Katie go to ballet? She loves dancing and dressing up like a princess. All those girls definitely looked like princesses."

He was trying to avoid eye contact with Jill who was probably angry at him for bringing this up. Sean was the one who suggested Katie went to riding lessons, and piano lessons too. And last year there was the art and the swimming lessons. He just wanted her to become a beautiful skilled woman when she grew up. Jill wanted that too but her taking classes meant that she had to cancel all her plans on her weekends to take her daughter from one class to another. She was already working so hard trying to run the company their father started a few years before passing away. She had no time for another lesson.

Jill sighed as loud as she could , trying to stop her little brother from brainwashing Katie into getting another lesson.

"Wait here princess." Sean said, got up and left the room avoiding his sister.

Everyone anxiously waited for him to come back and he did, with a huge pink box in his arms. He placed it in front of the little girl who was already jumping around, eager to learn what was in the box. She quickly undid the white bow around the box. Lifting the lid, she found a pink sparkling tutu and a tiara and screamed with joy.

"So, what do you say Katie? Would you like to take ballet lessons?" He asked softly.

"And dance just like a real princess? Yes! Yes I would!" She screamed giving him another big hug.

"But baby," Jill cut off " I'm sorry but I don't have time to take you to your lessons. We're already pretty busy. Maybe next year?"

"Oh I'll take her." Sean popped in. "I already asked around and learnt that there's an amazing teacher at the arts academy. It's also close to my apartment so..."

"Can Sean take me mommy?"

"Can I?"

They both looked at her with big, puppy eyes.

"Uhm.. Well if you will take her _every_ week.. Then yes, you can." She smiled. How could she resist those two?

Katie first hugged her mom then jumped into Sean arms one more time and thanked him maybe a hundred times.

Sean was happy seeing his princess so happy. But there was another reason for his smile. Actually it was the reason behind all this, he would get to see that woman again.

Next Saturday

She was headed to the cafeteria when she saw him again. The fundraiser was over, why was he still there then? She quickly turned around and started walking to the opposite direction. But she wasn't quick enough.

"Excuse me!" He shouted from across the hall " Could you please... Wait a second?"

He starting running and stopped when he got close to her, too close to her.

He smelled terribly good. And with that boyish grin and puppy-brown eyes he was definitely irresistible.

"I just had to ask you something, why where you there in the middle of the night? "

"Are you questioning me?" She asked annoyed

"No, I-I just... You know, you were really good. Amazing even. Then all of a sudden you stopped and started crying. I was just wondering why."

"I was not crying.. A-and I don't have to tell you anything. You were the one who invaded _my_ privacy! Hell, why were _you_ there anyway? I've never seen you here before."

She knew way too well why he was there that night but she desperately needed to change the subject.

"I don't have to tell you anything." He smirked

"Arrrgh!" She groaned. How could he be so annoying and charming at the same time? She gave him a deathly glare , trying her best to hide her amusement and started walking away. He stopped her by grabbing her arm. "My name-"

"I don't want to know your name!" She cut him off. "You... You are an arrogant bastard who disturbed me in one of my most private moments and instead of _apologizing_, which I'm not really sure if you even know what that means, you come and started questioning me! So no, I don't want to see you again let alone know your name!"

"I just asked you _one_ question. And you are just saying this because you probably already do know my name." He said with a grin on his face.

She harshly pulled her arm from his clasp and walked away.

"Did anyone tell you how adorable you look when you're angry?" He shouted from behind.

"Aargh!" She screamed without even turning around to face him. That cocky bastard didn't know how to take a hint.


	3. May 4th, 2013

**Thank you! thank you! thank you! for reading, following, reviewing and even favorite-ing my story!**

**You can't even imagine how happy you make me! :)**

**BTW I decided to do something with this story.. because there will always be a time jump between chapters I decided to make every chapter a saturday :) first day they met, was a saturday. Second chapter, again was a Saturday. So I decided to go like that and name the rest of the chapters with a date...**

**ENJOY!**

* * *

She went to the studio early as usual. She liked being prepared for her students. Watching the little girls come in dragging their parents with them always brought a smile on her face. Because many years ago, she was one of them. When she looked at those girls, she saw herself. She got back to her childhood, where she was safe and happy.

Nothing was the same now and nothing would ever replace the feeling of safety she felt around her parents.

Becoming a teacher was actually never her dream. Her father always said she had a very important destiny to fulfill. She really hoped she wasn't disappointing her parents by working at this job. At least it was much better than her previous one.

She greeted the girls with a huge smile and they started the lesson with a little game. The girls loved her lessons. They always looked up to her and tried their best to be like her. To them, Alex was a beautiful princess that they wanted to become. Some even told this wish of theirs to her. Alex was flattered at first but then she felt a little guilty for making these innocent girls believe that she was this perfect human being that did nothing wrong in her life. She didn't want to be their role model. She didn't _deserve _to be their role model.

Twenty minutes into the lesson the doors of the studio opened with a loud bang. Startled and annoyed by the interruption, she looked sternly at the man who came in.

Her expression quickly turned from frustration to shock, then to confusion.

It was him.

The guy that saw him dancing that night. The guy that flirted with her in the morning instead of apologizing . And oddly enough, the guy that hadn't left her dreams since the night they first saw each other.

He was breathing heavily probably due to running through the long hallway of the academy.

"What are you doing here!" She whispered so the girls wouldn't hear. "Look, I though I was clear when I said I didn't want anything to do with you. Please, just leave my-" she stopped when a little girl popped her head from behind his tall figure.

Of course! He was married and had a daughter! How could she be so stupid to even think that he was into her. She tried to look as if she wasn't shocked at all but she could see from the smile on his face that she wasn't doing a very good job hiding her disappointment.

"This is Katie." He said and guided the girl to step forward. " She just signed up for you lesson. Ms..?"

"Austen" she completed. "Alexandra Austen."

"Alexandra" she heard him whisper to himself and noticed the smile on his face. This time it was a heart warming smile instead of a smirk that she expected to see.

"Pleasure to meet you, Katie" she said and bent down to the child's eye level. "Tell me, why did you choose ballet?"

The little girls face lit up as she told her new teacher about her plans of becoming a princess. In just a few minutes she told her everything from the dress she wanted to wear for her very first ball, to the castle she wanted to live in. She told her of how big her house already was and that her father promised to live in an actual castle one day. She described her dream room, her toys and even the school she wanted to go once she became a princess. Alex chuckled at Katie's very detailed dreams.

"Okay then." She stopped the little girl so shed breathe. " lets introduce you to the girls. I'm sure they'd love to meet you."

She turned back to the class but was stopped by Sean gabbing her arm, again.

"What time should I pick her up?"

"5pm" she simply answered and went back to her lesson. She led Katie to where all the other girls curiously waited. After introducing her to the entire class and quickly shoving her the right posture they were all ready to continue to the lesson.

Two hours passed really quickly. One by one all the girls left the studio to enjoy the rest of the sunny Saturday. Everyone but Katie. The lesson had finished half an hour ago and there was no sign of anyone coming to pick her up. "Miss Austen why didn't anyone come for me?" She asked with her big green eyes filled with tears. Her voice was shaking and she seemed like she might burst into tears anytime now.

"Oh sweetie, it's okay." She gave her a hug "Your dad said he'd be here at 5. I'm sure he's running a little late."

"Daddy?" Katie screamed. "Really?"

"Yes honey. Really."

Katie stared jumping around and Alex watched her in confusion. She didn't understand why she was so happy to hear that her dad was coming.

Fifteen minutes later Sean came in running. Katie was facing her back to the door while she showed her teacher some of the new moves she had learnt. When Alex saw Sean come in she was excited to give the little girl the good news. "Look Katie, your dad!" She exclaimed pointing to the door.

Katie screamed with joy and turned around but her face quickly dropped after seeing her uncle instead of her dad who she hadn't seen for a month now.

Unaware of anything Sean greeted his niece "Hi there princess! How was you-" he stopped after seeing her tiny lips starting to tremble. A few tears escaped and brushed down her cheek.

She turned back to Alex "You said my daddy was going to pick me up!"

Alex looked at Sean in shock. He was apparently not her father. What had she done? Why did Katie look like she might break into pieces?

Just as she thought about those Katie covered her face with her little hands and started crying. Sean quickly picked her up and wrapped his arms around her. He rubbed her back trying to soothe her. Alex heard him whisper to her about her dad coming soon.

"She's my niece." He turned back to her. His voice was pretty annoyed but gentle at the same time.

The way he held Katie showed a very soft, caring side of him. A brand new side that Alex just got the chance to see. Very different from the man she thought she figured out.

Alex wondered how this affectionate uncle could be the same arrogant man she met earlier.

She felt guiltier with every tear drop that fell from Katie's eyes. She too, was about to cry.

Sean picked his nieces coat and placed it over her shoulders.

"We should better go. Thank you for staying with her until I came Ms. Austen"

Alex couldn't even look at him in the eye. She felt terrible for getting the girl's hopes up for seeing her father, wherever he was. She just stood there and watched them leave.

* * *

At first he was furious when he saw his little princess cry. No one, NO ONE could make her cry. He was there to protect her. And he always would be. At some point he even considered pulling her out of the lessons.

He wasn't thinking straight and he realized that when he saw Alexandra's eyes. Her enchantingly beautiful eyes were filled with guilt and tears. He could see it crystal clear. His rage faded away quickly. It was not her fault. How could she have known about Katie's delicate situation?

"We should better go. Thank you for staying with her until I came Ms. Austen" he said quietly and left the room.

There was no one to be angry at, but himself.

He actually enjoyed seeing the disappointment in Alexandra's eyes when she first saw Katie. He wanted to continue to pretending to be Katie's dad as long as he could. It was all just a game for him. A game to take her attention...

But that game now hurt both these beautiful ladies that he very much cared about.

He should be the one who's drowning under guilt, not her. It was HIS fault.

He wanted to go back there and apologize. He actually didn't know how he could feel those heightened emotions toward a woman he had just met. It just simply felt right. Whenever he saw the pain in his eyes he had this urge to protect her, to comfort her. He'd seen her like this only twice and she always seemed very strong until he looked at her eyes. They were probably her only weak point. The only place where you could actually see the really Alexandra, whoever she was. He certainly wanted to learn more about the hurt, fragile woman behind her eyes.

He smiled at himself as he imagined her dancing again. That memory never stopped haunting him since the first time he saw her. That woman always filled his dreams.

He had to apologize and tell her how stupid he was to hurt them both. But right now, he had a fragile little girl in his arms that needed him. And that little girl would always be his priority

He was about to get into his car when he heard her call out.

"Mr. Pierce?" She was running through the drive way to catch up to them. "My. Pierce, I...I'm so sorry. I didn't-"

"It was not your fault." He said kindly.

She looked at him and gave him a small smile. She then turned her attention to Katie and stroked her hair. "I didn't mean to get you upset sweetie. I really am very sorry"

The little girl only nodded in response.

"Goodbye."

"Goodbye Mr. Pierce."

He turned around but after taking a few steps turned back to her "Sean. It's Sean."

She gave him a warm smile.

"I'll see you next week _Sean_"

"You'll see me Alexandra."


	4. May 11th, 2013

**A huge thanks to everyone who read, reviewed, followed and favorite-ed :) **

**By the way, I now have a beta! luvtheheaven was kind enough to correct all my mistakes (and I did have a lot :/ ) Thank you SO much for accepting to be my beta :) I really needed one**

* * *

"How's Jill doing?" Nikita asked while setting the table for three.

"She's fine. Jack will be coming soon, so both she and Katie are very excited," Sean answered from the kitchen.

Michael joined the conversation. "It must be hard for him, living away from his family." He smiled sadly because he was remembering the days when he had to be away from his family too.

Nikita understood that by the look on his face, and squeezed his hand to reassure him that that was in the past and wouldn't happen again.

Michael and Sean were best friends. They met while they both were still in the navy. Even though Sean was much younger and inexperienced than Michael, Michael trusted him to watch his back. They made a good team and went on three tours together. Michael had left the navy three years ago when things got serious with Nikita. He always talked about her as his savior. After he lost his wife and daughter to a car bombing in 2001, he'd shut himself off and gave himself completely into serving his country. He wouldn't even worry about being killed every time he got out to the field. He had nothing to go back to. He'd wanted to die.

Eight years after their death he'd met Nikita in a grief support group that his sister had forced him to go to. Nikita had also lost the one person she'd ever loved, her fiancée Daniel, to a terrible accident. And she too didn't spend a moment of her life not blaming herself for his death.

After a few chats and coffee together, they'd finally learned that they were not alone. They learned to lean on to each other and forgive themselves. Time after time their bond got stronger and their feelings slowly turned into love. A beautiful, endless, unconditional love…

They decided to give themselves a second chance and had been inseparable ever since. Michael didn't want to waste any more time so he asked her to marry him very soon after they got together. They finally found happiness.

"You know what?" Sean said with his mouth half-full. "I've missed this. Ever since I accepted the job working with Jill at the company, I've been neglecting you guys. I'm sorry."

"We've missed you too, Sean," Nikita said with a smile on her face. "There was no one to annoy us and make TERRIBLE jokes all the time."

"I'll take that as a compliment." He chuckled.

"Oh and no one likes my veggie shakes but you," Nikita said handing him one.

" Seriously man, how can you like those things!" Michael made a disgusted face.

Nikita punched him in the arm and the three burst into laughter.

They continued their breakfast talking about Michael and Nikita's wedding. Sean pretended to listen to them but as the time got closer for Katie's ballet lesson, all he could think about was Alexandra Austen.

He was about to leave their apartment when another idea came to him.

"I have a business trip next weekend but why don't we go bowling the weekend after that?" he asked.

Nikita and Michael paused for a while trying to understand why he asked something like that, totally out of the subject.

"That's...uhm... a great idea," Nikita said, "We haven't done something like that in ages!"

"I know. Hey, and...would you mind if I brought someone with me?"

"Is that someone the same someone you're going to meet right now? Because you've been checking your watch every two minutes for the whole the last hour," Michael said.

"In fact, it is," Sean smiled.

"You're dating someone? Sean, that amazing!" Nikita congratulated.

"We're not dating yet. Actually she hates me right now, but that will change."

"Tell me about her." Nikita pulled his arm back to the apartment. She was always like an older sister to him - as if he didn't already have enough of those. She always wanted to know every detail about the girls he was with. She had to determine herself if those girls were good enough for this young man she loved like a brother.

"I can't right now, Nikki; I have to drop Katie off at her ballet lesson." He leant down and kissed Nikita on the cheek.

"You know you're not getting away with this right?" She sighed.

Michael gave him a brotherly hug. "Have a safe trip. And kiss Katie for me, okay?"

"Will do."

He ran down the stairs with a huge smile on his face and got in his car. Saturdays had become his favorite day of the week.

* * *

"Goodbye, Miss Austen!" Katie waved and then she ran to her uncle who was waiting for her. Alex waved back.

"Oh, wait! Sean, can I go and tell Ella something real quick?" she asked, bashing her eyelashes.

Sean only nodded in response. Maybe that could give him a chance to go over to Alexandra and have a proper conversation this time. He was surprised to see Alexandra already walking toward him.

"Someone's on time today." She smiled.

"Someone's smiling!" He smirked. "A rare sight!"

She chuckled. "Katie's doing great in class. She caught up very quickly."

"She's been dancing around the house non-stop."

"She's a special kid; you're lucky to have her. So passionate-"

"We should go on a date." He said it simply, like he was merely asking what the weather was.

"What?!" Alex shouted in shock, but then she immediately covered her mouth with her hands, realizing the room was still full of girls. "Mr. Pierce..I-I..."

"What happened to Sean?"

He was so charming and looking at her with his chocolate brown puppy eyes and she was having trouble resisting him.

"Sean...I… why?"

"Why? Well because you're an extremely attractive woman that I would very much like to get to know better."

"Really? What about me; why would _I_ want to go on a date with you?"

"Because I'm charming." He shrugged.

He walked closer to her until their faces were inches apart. He was irresistible and all she wanted to do was to say yes to a date with him but she knew it was bad timing. She was just getting her life back together. That charming, cockney bastard was the last thing she needed right now.

"No." She said stepping further from him. "I don't want to go on a date with you."

"Ah, Alexandra... You really know how to make a man run after you."

"I'm not doing that! I'm not even trying to..."

"It's okay. As I told you before, you'll see me. A lot... At the end you will be the one asking me on a date."

"You're so confident in yourself, aren't you?"

"We'll see what happens."

"I have another lesson I need to prepare for." She pointed to the door. " So if you could let me..."

"See you!" he said and he left immediately.

She expected him to find an excuse to stay there a little bit more. No, she _wished_ he would've done that.

* * *

After her last lesson of the day she headed to the cafeteria. She bought whatever caught her eye. The cafeteria was empty as always so she was able to sit on her usual table at corner. Moments into her meal Sean came with his own tray and sat right next to her. "What are you doing here?" She asked, trying not to sound amused.

"Having dinner. Duh! You know what Alexandra, they told me that apple pie here was amazing. I thought I'd give it a try."

"And all the other tables were taken?"

" Look, I was sitting with that lovely lady over there..." he said pointing to the old chubby woman sitting in the other corner of the room, smiling at them. "We were talking about our problems. Did you know her daughter is planning to move abroad? Poor woman..."

"Problems?" She asked, smiling at his goofiness.

"Yes, everyone has problems. She gave me some great advice for my problem."

"Really? What is your problem?"

"There's this absolutely enchanting woman, a dancer, who wants _nothing_ to do with me, let alone go on a date," he said. His boyish grin made her chuckle.

"Eloise here..." he said turning to the old lady again "said that I should compliment this woman I've been talking to her about. Like… she told me to tell her how beautiful her eyes are. I told her that that wouldn't work. How could someone who has her eyes sees her face every time she looks in the mirror and therefore couldn't not know how enchanting they are. 'Cause her eyes are so different- so beautiful that they can't be explained with words." He was looking directly in her eyes and this time, he was so serious. The way he looked at her sent shivers down her spine.

She blushed immediately.

They stayed there looking at each other's eyes for what felt like hours.

"Alexandra, I-"

"Please don't call me Alexandra. No one calls me by my full name." She paused for a moment "It's Alex."

"Alex, why do you try to push me away?" His voice was so soft and affectionate.

"Because there are a lot of things you don't know about me. If you knew... If you knew anything about my past, you wouldn't be running after me like this."

"Everyone has a past. It doesn't matter."

"Sean..."

"Okay, I'm not going to push you. But at least can we become friends? Like... go out bowling. My two closest friends and I go to this place very often. Would you... uhm.. like to come with us one day? To a _friendly_ group bowling night?"

"I've never been bowling before."

"I'll teach you."

This man, this man that came to her life all of a sudden, created mixed emotions in her by showing two different sides of him. She would never have thought that there would be this very caring side to the man she'd read so much about in the newspaper. She wasn't sure if she wanted a new relationship right now. The one thing she was sure of, though, was that she wanted to see him more. Not just on Saturdays, but... more...

"Okay, I would like to go out bowling with you." She smiled.

"It's a date!" he said, but then immediately corrected himself. "Well, not a date date..."

They both smiled.

This was the beginning of something better.


	5. May 18th, 2013

**Hey! Sorry for the late update.**

**Actually Im at Engalnd for language education so I cant find any computers. So its so hard for me to update/ i will do my best to update every week. Im here for 3 more weeks... I WILL do my best :)**

* * *

She found herself constantly looking at the door, waiting for them to walk in. It had been a week and she realized that she actually missed seeing his boyish smile.

_Sean Pierce_, she thought to herself. Even thinking about his name made her smile. This guy was... different.

Katie came running through the door. Her excitement was easy to read through her face. She went to her lessons even more excited with every lesson that passed. She loved how she got better with time. She loved her teacher too. She fixed her bun one more time before revealing herself to her favorite teacher that she looked up to and wanted to impress.

"Hey Katie!" Alex greeted maybe a little more enthusiastically then a teacher should. After giving the girl a quick hug, she turned to the door to greet Sean but was surprised to find a tall, fit woman who looked just like him.

"Good morning Ms. Austen. I'm Jill Shepherd, Katie's mom. Pleasure to finally meet you. Katie's been talking about you all the time." They kindly shook hands.

"I thought S-Mr. Pierce was going to drop her off."

"My brother's handling some business abroad." Jill smiled seeing Alex's face drop. "He will be back next week though. If there's anything you want me to tell him..."

Alex blushed. "Oh, no, no, no... I just... need to get back to my lesson."

"Sure."

Shyly, she went back to the girls. "Don't worry, he will be here next week," Jill said again with a huge grin before getting out of the studio.

* * *

**FLASHBACK**

"Sasha? Sasha, are you okay? Open the door!" Irina screamed. She was scared to death at the thought of something bad happening to her best friend, her ONLY friend. She tried opening the door one more time but it was still locked. Just as she was headed to tell Vladwhat had been going on, she heard Alex cry. Irina sighed in relief. At least she was alive.

"Please, open the door."

A few moments later the door slowly opened and Alex came out of the bedroom. She was crying, tears pouring down her face, with glassy eyes and her makeup smeared. She looked worse than she ever had and this scared Irina even more. They both had been through hell, lost their families and their homes, had been forced into sex with terrible men, had gotten addicted to drugs… There was only one more thing that could happen to either one of them and would be the worst of all: getting pregnant. And that was exactly what Sasha was facing.

"Is it positive?" Irina then started to shake her seeing her looking blankly at the wall. "Sasha! You have to get yourself together!"

"No..." Alex whispered, "I'm not pregnant."

"Why are you crying then? This is a good thing." She gave her friend a hug.

"I could've been pregnant Irina! And I wouldn't even know who the father would be! They have us high all the time; I don't even know which month we're in! I-I..." She was frantically running around the small room they shared picking up a few clothes and throwing them to a bag.

"What do you think you're doing?" Irina stopped her.

"I'm getting out of here. Tonight."

"How do you expect to do that? Vlad's guards are everywhere. There is no way out."

"Look at what happened to Anna! Sh-she got so high that she actually decided to try to fly away from here on butterfly wings. I don't want us to end up like her. We have to leave now. Before it's too late..."

"Us? No, no; Sasha I can't come. I'm not strong like you. I can't survive outside."

Alex cupped Irina's face in her hands "Yes, you are. Come on get ready. We'll do this together. I won't leave you; I promise."

Irina hesitantly looked at her friend she knew by the name Sasha and then at the door. There was no better option. She kneeled down and got a few things from under her bed. A few minutes later both the girls had packed all their belongings.

"Thank you for doing this Irina."

* * *

After another exhausting day at work, Alex was glad to be heading home. She didn't have any plans for the rest of the night and all she wanted was to go to bed as soon as possible.

She froze when she saw him in front of the door to her apartment. She glanced back at the stairs, desperate trying to find a way out.

"Hi, Alex! Miss me?"

Even the tone of his voice sent shivers down her spine. She was paralyzed.

This was not supposed to happen. Not when she was just getting her life back together.

He roughly held her arms and pinned her to the wall.

"Why did you leave, Alex?" he whispered into her ear.

She wanted to scream but no matter how many times she tried, the sound couldn't come out of her mouth. "Ronnie..." she managed to say but even that was barely audible. "Please, let me go."

"They said you left to get clean and start a brand new life. You thought that would be so easy right? To start over... Let me tell you something, it isn't. Especially for someone like you…. How old we're you when I found you in that alley? 17? You were lying on the ground, curled up into a ball, crying in pain. You hadn't taken a hit in days and you BEGGED me to help you. You told me that you'd die if I didn't help. You told me that you'd do anything for a hit. And I did help, didn't I? I saved your life."

"You saved my life? You just took me to another hellhole similar to the one I had just escaped and just like my captures there, you got me hooked on drugs!" Alex screamed.

"Shhh! Be quiet Alex. We wouldn't like to disturb your neighbors, would we? Lets go inside so we can talk better."

"You are not getting inside my house! Leave! Now!"

Ronnie ripped her bag from her shoulder and searched for the key. He quickly found it, opened the door and shoved her inside.

"You have a lovely place here. This uhm... academy that you work at, they probably pay you well."

"How do you know about where I work?"

"Because I've been searching for you for months!" he yelled. He walked into her kitchen and opened the door.

"You don't have anything to drink?" he asked calming down a bit.

"What do you want from me?!" she whispered.

"I want you back! We were... we were great together. Our life was awesome. "

"Our life was _pathetic_. We were high on drugs 90% of the time-"

"Oh, please don't tell me that you don't miss it. We had _nothing_ to worry about. We were _happy_ unlike most 'normal' couples."

"We had nothing to worry about?" she repeated laughing at how ridiculous it sounded. "Except for the next payment for the drugs or if someone would kill us before the drugs did it."

"I'm here to take you back. You will come back to me!"

"I'm not going _anywhere_ with you! I left you. I left that life. I'm not the desperate young girl you knew. Not anymore...

"You can never get away from your past Alex. It will always haunt you. You will come back to me. You will for this..."

Her heart started beating faster when she saw what he took out of his pocket. It was a clear, plastic bag filled with her past, her biggest fear.


	6. May 25th, 2013

**Hey!**

**I'm sorry for the late update but I wasn't home the past 3 weeks and I had no computer access! It was crazy!**

**Anyway, here's the 6th chapter. The next one is almost done.**

**Enjoy :)**

* * *

Katie was pacing around the room, constantly asking her mother the time.

"He'll be here any minute now, sweetie." Jill sighed. It was the fourth time her daughter asked about the time in the last five minutes.

The little girl ran back to the window and continued to wait. "But you said that last time, Mommy. Why is he late?"

"He might be stuck in traffic, baby. He promised you. He will be here. Don't worry."

A few minutes later, a car pulled into the driveway and Katie started screaming, "He's here, Mommy! Uncle Sean's here!"

Katie was at the door before Jill even had time to look up from her book.

"Sean! I missed you!" Katie said. Sean picked her up and hugged the little girl tightly. He then gave Jill a quick hug and they all went into the living room.

"Where's Mom?" he asked as he started opening his suitcase.

"She said she had a bit more work to catch up on. But she will be here for dinner," Jill said.

There was a little pause while Sean started digging through his suitcase. Katie was sitting on the floor, right next to her uncle. She knew that he brought something for her and was dying to see it.

"So, how was Australia?" Jill continued.

"It was... It was great. I mean, I was working most of the time so... And don't worry I've got everything under control." He smiled. "But the last day they took me to this amazing wildlife zoo... We should take Katie there someday, on a vacation. "

"Really?" Katie's eyes widened.

"Of course! They were baby kangaroos and koalas. They were adorable! I took some photos to show you."

He took out his cellphone from his pocket and handed it to the girl.

"Come here Katie; I want to see them too," Jill said, patting her lap. The little girl jumped on her mother's lap and they looked at every picture on the phone. Sean finished finding what he was looking for, so he joined them and explained all the photos.

"Well, I got you guys a few things..." he said after they'd reached the end of the photos.

He took out a tiny stuffed animal: a baby kangaroo. "Believe it or not, in real life they were really this little," he said.

"It is so sweet! Thank you, Sean! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Katie first hugged Sean and then her new favorite toy.

"I have a few more things..." Sean continued to take out little presents from his suitcase.

"Stop spoiling my daughter!" Jill scolded.

"Aww, look. Katie mommy's jealous she didn't get any presents! Don't worry sis, I have a few things for you too."

The three burst into laughter.

They spent the rest of the afternoon unpacking all the presents Sean brought. Most of them were of course for Katie. She was the only child in the family and everyone loved spoiling her. Especially Sean... He wanted to give her the world and she did deserve it. He knew he could never love someone as much as he loved her.

Jill and Sean were both watching Katie play with her new toys. Both had a smile on their faces.

"The ballet teacher asked about you, you know."

Sean tried to hide the shock on his face but failed. "Alexandra asked about me?"

"Yeah... And she's really very beautiful just like Katie told me. Who did you say recommended her to you? "

Sean could see where this was going. "I- uhmm..."

"Are you using my daughter to get laid, Sean?" Jill asked. She did not look angry or disappointed, but rather quite the opposite. She looked amused.

"No! Of course not!"

"It's just a little suspicious...You persuading Katie to take ballet lessons and then volunteering to be her ride every Saturday to this academy that you found. And the teacher turns out to be a very attractive young woman." She smirked. "Anyway, I don't know what you did to that poor woman, Sean, but you had to see her face when she saw me instead of you."

Now, Sean was grinning too. He couldn't have been happier. He had finally gotten through to Alex. There finally was a crack on the wall she had so strongly built.

* * *

"You look nervous," Sean stated. "Don't be. I've known Michael and Nikita for years now; they don't bite," he joked. But he didn't get her to laugh like he expected she would and their already awkward silence got even more awkward.

Sean had noticed something different about her the second he saw her when he went to pick her up from the academy. Her eyes were red, she looked tired and her skin was really pale. Sean thought that was due to fatigue but she was also so distant which he didn't understand. He knew he'd told her that this would only be a friendly night but his angle was pretty obvious and he thought she'd understood that too.

He put his arm on her waist to guide her to where Michael and Nikita were sitting but he felt her tense up and removed it immediately.

"Sorry," he said quietly. She didn't say anything and that made Sean even more worried. Something was wrong. He could feel it.

"Hey guys! This is Alex. Alex, these are my best friends." Sean introduced them. They shook hands and exchanged polite smiles. They had decided to go and have dinner at a nearby restaurant before going to the bowling alley. They sat down at a table and after a while started to talk about how they became friends and about Michael and Nikita's wedding. Alex stayed silent and watched them talk.

"So, what do you do Alex?" Michael asked noticing that the young woman still hadn't said a word.

"I teach ballet."

"Alex is actually Katie's teacher," Sean added.

"That's really nice! You didn't tell us that, Sean," Nikita said.

"Yeah, that's actually where we first met," he lied.

All of a sudden, Alex dropped the glass of water she was holding, and spilt the water all around the table. Everyone turned to Alex in surprise.

"I'm so sorry!" she said standing up. She felt dizzy and held onto the table to keep steady. "I-I need to go to the restroom."

She left quickly, avoiding eye contact with everyone.

Sean immediately stood up right after her. He had noticed her hands trembling the past few minutes but had linked it to her tired appearance and thought that she was just overworked.

Michael stopped him. "I don't think you can go in there with her." He chuckled trying to lighten up the mood, but Sean's concerned look didn't change.

"I'll go help her out," Nikita suggested and she followed Alex to the restrooms.

* * *

Alex splashed some water on her face. She stared at herself in the mirror with disgust. How could she let this happen again? After all the pain she'd been through to get herself clean, after getting her life back together, after having a man like Sean care about her...

She felt guiltier the more she looked at herself in the mirror.

Who was this girl anyway?

Alexandra?

Sasha?

Alex?

Alexandra was a young girl who had been mostly brought up by her father. Her name had been decided months before she was born, and so had her hobbies, her friends, her job... Her entire future had been all planned out for her even before she took her first breath. She was never given the chance to be herself, to be who she wanted to be.

Sasha had been an unlucky, pitiful young woman who had been forced to grow up in such a short time. This time her name had been given by the man who was _supposed_ to protect her. She had been given that name for "her own protection" when she had been sold into sexual slavery. Sasha didn't have any other choice but to obey the people who held her captive, to carry that name. Not just because she had been young, scared and had nowhere else to go to but because she had been addicted to the drugs they kept giving her.

And then there was Alex...

She carried some parts of both Alexandra and Sasha in her. She fought her way out of everything that held her captive: Vlad, Ronnie, the drugs... She was strong enough to escape, to set herself free and build a brand new life. A life she would be proud of and happy to live...

Alex was her only identity that she had created by herself.

But now, she didn't know who she was looking at.

The restrooms door opening brought her back from her thoughts. She quickly wiped her face with a paper towel and saw Nikita walk in with a kind smile that quickly dropped after seeing Alex. Her makeup was messed up and she was leaning on the counter for support.

"I was just checking to see if you were alright."

"I'll be back in just a second." Alex did her best to smile and hide what really was happening. But her ring kept making a sound whenever it hit the counter while her hands shook. Her hand started to shake even harder and that made both Nikita and Alex look at it. Alex quickly grabbed it and stopped it with her other hand.

"I just don't feel very well that's all. But I will be fine after a rest."

"Alex, I know that we just met. But if you need _anything_... Even someone to talk to. I'm here."

She reached down her purse and grabbed a Post-it. She handed it to her after writing down her phone number. "Please call, Alex. I know how hard it can be."

Alex took the paper but kept staring at the older woman. Nikita understood the situation she was in. And instead of trying to get her away from her close friend, Nikita was trying to help her. She looked down at her feet, feeling ashamed.

Nikita took her hands in hers and made sure they were looking each other in the eye. "Sean is a good man. He's one of the good ones, Alex. And he cares about you. He cares about you so much that it's easy to see it by just looking at the way he looks at you. So please don't do anything that would hurt him, anything that you'd regret. You're a young, beautiful woman who has a lot to live for. Give him a chance. Give _yourself_ a chance. Get help."

"He'll hate me. He'll never want to see me again. I mean, who would?" Alex's voice was shaking and she had tears streaming down her face.

Nikita hugged her in a very affectionate way and stayed like that until Alex calmed down a bit. "Alex, I've known Sean for years. He's never acted like the way he acts around you with other women. He cares about you so much and he'd do anything to help you. I don't think he could ever hate you or live through a week without knowing he'd see you again. You deserve a second chance." After saying that, she gave her another quick hug and left the restroom.

* * *

"Hey," Alex quietly said to everyone as she walked back to the table. "Look, I'm so sorry for everything. I think I should better leave. I don't feel very well and a rest would be really good."

"Wait, let me drive you home." Sean jumped up.

"No. Please, I can manage to get home. Thank you so much for everything. I'm so glad I met you."

"It was our pleasure." Michael smiled. Nikita also gave her a look that reassured her that everything would be fine even if she didn't know how that would happen right now.

"Are you sure you'll be fine?" Sean asked, following her to the doors. "It's just that-"

"I will be fine, Sean. It was a short but lovely dinner. Thank you. Goodnight."

"Goodnight," he whispered, more to himself than her as he watched her leave.


	7. June 1st, 2013

** Hey!**

**I'm so sorry I didn't update in ages but I was so busy!**

**But to make up for making you guys wait I wrote a much longer chapter :)**

**Please please please leave a review. I love them!**

* * *

"Katie, did they tell you why Miss Austen wasn't there for the lessons today?"

"The new teacher told us that she was sick."

"But she will be back next week, right?"

"They didn't say anything," she shrugged. "Am I going to stay with you all day today? Mommy said she has a lot of work to do."

"Yeah, I talked with her and she said you could sleep at my place. So I thought maybe we could have an uncle-niece night. Watch a few movies, eat popcorn..."

"Great! But can we go to the library first and then get some ice cream?"

"You want to go to the library?"

"Yes. I want to get some books so you can read to me tonight. You're so funny when you read me stories; I love it."

"Okay then, princess. Your wish is my command!" He bowed in front of her and she giggled.

He let the little girl get dressed for their uncle-niece night and they prepared a bag for the night that included a toothbrush, pajamas and nearly all the Barbie dolls she had. Katie was really excited for their night together. She loved playing games with him. Especially with her Barbie dolls. Sean took these games really seriously and played the role of a queen or a princess really well. They always made a little tent in his living room when she stayed over and pretended that it was a castle.

Sean was never just her uncle. He was also her best friend.

* * *

He turned around to get a better view of her. It was definitely Alex. She was arguing with a man who looked like he was trouble. Alex had her arms in the air and was yelling at the guy.

"I think she's arguing with her friend," Katie whispered.

Sean didn't say anything; he just stood there watching Alex, ready to run to help her if she needed him to. After a few seconds she started to punch the guy but he just let her do it and laughed. Then with a quick move he grabbed her hands and pinned her to the wall. He had his arm on her neck, strangling her. She cried out in pain and that was when Sean lost it. He felt the anger rush through his body. He told Katie to stay put and ran to Alex.

"Hey! " he yelled. "Let her go!"

Ronnie look at him in confusion and immediately ran away before Sean could come for him. Instead of following Ronnie and beating the crap out of him. Sean rushed over to Alex who was now sitting on the pavement, rubbing her neck.

"Are you okay?" he asked. He looked so worried.

She nodded.

People had already gathered around them. Some of them were asking if they should call the police. Alex's eyes grew wide at the mention of that. "There's no need to call the police," she told Sean and she asked him to send the crowd away. He did what he was asked and soon enough they were alone.

"That might leave a bruise." He pointed to her neck, which she was still rubbing.

"Yeah, it probably will..."

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked one more time, kneeling down next to her.

"I'm fine, Sean. Thank you," she answered, looking blankly in the direction that man left.

"Who was he, Alex?"

"He..." She sighed. "He wasn't a big deal."

"Seemed like one to me."

"He's just someone I used to know. I guess sometimes a time comes when you regret being friends with certain people." She tried to laugh, but Sean stayed serious.

"He tried to hurt you. Maybe it would be better if we called the police."

"I told you there's no need for that. He just panicked and lost control of himself. I don't think he wanted to hurt me. And even if he did, I'm able to protect myself."

"It's just..." Sean had no intentions to stop their conversation.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're worried about me Sean," she teased, trying to lighten the mood.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say something's been going on with you for the past 2 two weeks. You've been acting different, Alex."

"You don't even know who I am, Sean. How can you know if I've changed?" she snapped.

Before Sean could give her an answer Katie came running to them interrupting their awkward silence.

"Miss Austen! Uncle Sean rescued you from the bad man didn't he? Grandma says he's a hero - that he saves lives all the time," Katie boasted.

"He saves lives, huh?" Alex asked, giggling as Katie nodded seriously.

"That's why he has all these medals in grandma's house."

Alex turned her head towards Sean to see him smirking. He then quoted Superman.

"I'm here to fight for truth, and justice, and the American way."

Alex couldn't help but laugh at the cocky man standing in front of her. Watching her laugh made him want to spend more time with her. He knew she would try to find a way to leave them soon. But Sean had a perfect idea his face lit up immediately.

"You know what, Miss Austen? Katie and I were going to the library and then we were going to get some ice cream. Why don't you join us?"

"I really don't ha-"

"Please?" Katie asked with her puppy eyes. Sean had the same look on his face.

"I suppose I could go with you guys."

"Yay!" both Katie and Sean shouted.

* * *

The road to the library was quiet. Katie was really excited that her favorite teacher had decided to join them. Even though Alex really didn't want to admit it, she was glad that Sean was there for her and she knew without a doubt, that she could trust him. Alex didn't know what was special about Katie but all she knew was that she completely adored her, similar to how her dearest uncle did. They soon made their way inside the library and Katie started giving them directions.

"Okay, now we have to be really quiet. Mommy says it is very rude to talk loudly in a library." Katie whispered very seriously.

They both nodded and started laughing as soon as Katie turned around.

"Good. Follow me, now," Katie said with the same serious tone and started walking.

"Her mother is exactly like this." Sean whispered. "Bossy…" he continued imitating Katie. Alex let out a laugh, which was louder than she'd intended, and immediately covered her mouth with her hand. Katie quickly turned around to 'shush' them.

Alex and Sean stared to look around, but were quickly interrupted by Katie, who shot them a look and pointed to a specific direction in which she had decided the three of them should proceed.

Sean muttered, "As you wish, your highness."

That made Alex chuckle. She was having so much fun with Katie and Sean and was glad she hadn't pushed him away this time. They quietly followed the little girl to the children's section. Alex was shocked at the sight in front of her. "Oh my god! I never thought it would be so..."

"Fun and colorful?" Sean tried to finish her sentence.

"Yes!" She exclaimed. Her excitement was easily shown on her face. "Look at all the colors! It's so beautiful!"

"You've never been to a library when you were little? Most places have children's sections like this, in order to encourage the kids to read."

"No, I haven't actually."

"Then welcome to the happiest part of a library, Alexandra Austen." Sean smiled.

Alex smiled in return as her name came out from Sean's mouth. She liked the way he said her full name, but at the same time it hurt. It always reminded her that she was lying to him. Lying about who she actually was. She wanted to tell him her real name but knew that it would only cause him to get curious and dig deeper into her past. She didn't want him to know about certain things she was ashamed of. She was scared to lose him.

Katie started searching for a book immediately as Alex started wandering around. She checked every book that caught her eye. They didn't realize how the time flew. When Sean checked his watch he realized that if they didn't hurry up, they would miss the ice cream truck that is only at the park during the daytime He was about to say something, but then he saw Alex looking at a book with the excitement of a little girl, so he decided against it.

After going up and down every shelf in the place, Katie had finally found the book she was looking for.

"Mommy told me I should make you read this book to me." Katie handed him the book with a mischievous grin.

Sean read the cover and saw that the book was 'Fox in Sox' by Dr. Seuss

"Your mom told you to get this book?"

"Yes. She said you had to try reading this to me no matter what. She says it's the funniest book ever especially if you're reading it." She giggled.

"Okay princess, we can take it home and I'll read it to you at night."

"Why home? I want to listen to it too," Alex joined in. "And what is so important about this book anyway?"

"It's a book by Dr. Seuss. He was my favorite author growing up. Jill and I used to compete against each other trying to read his books out loud. Our parents used to be the judges." He smiled, remembering the days they used to sit in the living room as a family.

"Of course, I was terrible and..." He paused after seeing Alex look so puzzled.

"You don't know who Dr. Seuss is, do you?" he asked with a sigh.

"No, I don't."

"Where did you grow up again?" he asked.

"My dad used to choose the books for me to read. That's why I've never been to a public library. We had one in our house and that was the only place I used to go. He didn't want me to waste my time by reading books like these. I mostly read the classics."

"So you've never..."

"Nope."

"Were you allowed to do some fun things then? Like watching cartoons or animated films..."

"Nope," she repeated.

"You have to be kidding me! You've never watched like... like Lion King?"

"I wasn't allowed to watch TV or movies very often. Even when I did they wanted me to watch documentaries. I had a very busy schedule; I never had time to waste."

"So you mean you've _never_ watched Lion King?" Sean asked, shocked. When Alex didn't answer he tried to give her some hints to make her remember.

"Hakunna Matata?"

Alex didn't know what to say. She had no idea what that was.

"What is that, Sean?"

After that Katie interrupted and started singing Hakuna Matata as Sean imitated 'Timon' and Katie 'Pumbaa' quietly, not forgetting that they were in a library.

Alex watched them in awe. They had the perfect relationship. Something like she used to have with her father. Of course Alex and her father had never goofed around like those two were right now, but they did enjoy each other's company and had a very special bond.

As the uncle and niece approached the end of the song, Alex clapped softly. Katie bowed like the true princess she was and sat on the ground, making Sean and Alex sit next to her. Sean tried to get out of that situation because he knew that they were now expecting him to read the book.

"Uhm... I... You know what? I think an ice cream would be awesome now."

"Don't try to change the subject Sean," Alex countered. "We're waiting for you to read it..."

Alex saw Sean pout and couldn't help but think that he looked adorable. He grabbed the book from Katie's little hands. And opened it. He started reading carefully, because he didn't want to embarrass himself too much in front of Alex if it was possible. As little kids, whenever Jill got bored, she would ask to have another Dr. Seuss competition with him. Sean always used to fail miserably and pout while Jill would laugh even harder. He took a deep breath and continued reading.

_"Lets have a talk about tweetle beetles..._

_What do you know about tweetle beetles?_

_Well..._

_When tweetle beetles fight, _

_It's called a tweetle beetle battle._

_And when they battle in a puddle,_

_It's a tweetle beetle puddle battle._

_AND…_

_When tweetle beetles battle with paddles in a puddle,_

_They call it a tweetle beetle puddle paddle battle._

_AND…_

_When beetles battle beetles in a puddle paddle battle,_

_And the beetle battle puddle is a puddle in a bottle_

_They call this a tweetle beetle bottle puddle paddle battle muddle._

_AND…_

_When beetles fight these battles in a bottle with their paddles and the bottles on a poodle and the poodle's eating noodles..._

_They call this a muddle puddle tweetle poodle beetle noodle bottle paddle battle_

_AND…" _Sean was out of breath when he finished the last sentence. He was about to continue when Alex stopped him by continuing reading herself.

_ "Now wait a minute, Mr. Socks Fox!_

_When a fox is in the bottle where the tweetle beetles battle with their paddles in a puddle one a noodle-eating poodle, _

_THIS is what they call..._

_A tweetle beetle noodle poodle bottled paddled muddled cuddled fuddle wuddled fox in socks, sir!_

_Fox in Socks our game is done, sir. Thank you for a lot of fun, sir."_

Katie laughed so uncontrollably every time Sean failed reading a part. Alex placed her hand on her stomach, trying to gain a bit of self-control and stop herself from laughing as well. They were getting looks of annoyance from everyone else in the library.

Soon after, the librarian approached them. She looked at Alex and Katie before she turned to Sean.

"Sir, I have to ask you to be quiet due to the library's rules."

Sean nodded immediately and the woman bent down to Katie's level.

"What have you got down there?"

Katie smiled and showed the book to her.

"Are we in trouble?" she quietly asked

"Oh, what a wonderful choice! Now I can understand why you were laughing. And to answer your question, it's Dr. Seuss - so of course you are allowed to laugh and not be in trouble. But just try to stay a bit quieter." She smiled as Katie giggled. They thanked the lovely librarian and since they were finished with the book, they stood up to leave. Sean held Katie's one hand as Alex held the other. They looked like a perfect family. They made their way to the park right outside the huge library.

* * *

Katie's whole face lit up when she saw the swings.

"Sean can I go swing for ten minutes?" she begged.

"Okay, but just until I get our ice cream and then we'll walk Miss Austen to her house."

Hearing this for the first time Alex gave him a surprised look. "You really don't have to Sean."

"Do you have to disagree with every nice thing I offer you, Alex?" He didn't give her a chance to respond. " Now, which flavor would you like your ice creams to be, ladies?"

"Chocolate and strawberry!" Katie excitedly said. She then ran off to the swings.

"I'll have vanilla."

"Okay," he smiled pretending to write their orders on a piece of paper. "Your orders will be here in about five minutes. Do you mind watching her?"

"Of course not." Alex gave him a small smile and started watching Katie swinging happily. All the other kids were probably friends and were playing together. They started jumping from the swings. Alex didn't realize that Katie was watching them too. Katie looked at all the other girls and decided that if they could do it, she could too. Katie took her own jump. Alex was watching, but everything was happening so quickly and she started to hear a loud cry even before her eyes landed up Katie's new location

Sean was still waiting in line to get the ice cream when he noticed that Alex was no longer sitting on the bench. He searched for her and his eyes grew wide when he spotted her next to Katie who was crying in pain. He immediately ran and kneeled in front of them. The little girl's arm was bleeding, as was her chin, and she had a nasty goose egg on her forehead.

"What happened?" He asked.

"I was swinging really fast and I tried to jump like the older kids were doing, but I fell," Katie answered, fighting through the pain and the tears.

"Maybe we should take her to the hospital," Sean said, turning back to Alex. He was panicked, worried and needed to calm down.

"Sean, it looks worse than it is," Alex reassured him. "It's just a bad fall. There's no need to go to the hospital. Don't worry I've seen far worse. She just needs some band aids and an ice pack."

"I don't want to go to the hospital, Sean," Katie murmured.

"Okay then, how about we get out of here and I'll clean those wounds up when we get to my house?" Sean suggested.

Katie nodded and lifted her arms up for her uncle to pick her up.

"I'm sorry we couldn't get the extra special ice cream," he apologized to both of them. Looking towards Katie, he added, "I have some boring, but still delicious, store bought stuff at my place, so you can still definitely eat that." He turned toward Alex. "And thank you so much for spending the day with us and helping out with Katie."

"It was a pleasure." Alex smiled.

"Can Miss Austen come with us?" Katie asked just as they were about to separate.

"Of course." Sean answered looking at Alex for an answer.

She hesitated for a moment but then nodded. "Only if I can have some of your ice cream there, because I'm starving!"

* * *

"It hurts so much!" Katie whimpered.

Alex put her arms around the little girl and rocked her gently while Sean left the room in search of what he needed to clean the girl's wounds. She brushed her hand over the large bump on Katie's forehead that was turning various colors - black, blue, and purple.

When Sean returned, Katie was calm again. He sat his supplies on the coffee table and sat beside them on the couch.

"Princess, I promise it's not going to hurt you. In fact, the magic in this stuff is going to make it all better," he told her in a soft voice

"You still think I'm a baby don't you?" Katie asked, which made Alex chuckle.

"No, I think you're very brave. I can tell you are in a lot of a pain, but you aren't crying or screaming anymore. You're actually a pretty tough princess."

"Yeah, your uncle is right. I think I would still be crying my eyes out, if it'd been me," Alex added.

"You're a grown up; you wouldn't cry. You're just saying that to make me feel better."

Sean gently took hold of the girl's arm and carefully cleaned and bandaged it.

"Feeling better?" He asked when he was all done.

"Yes. But I'd be feeling much better if I had some ice cream too," Katie giggled.

"As you wish, your highness!" Sean said and went to the kitchen.

Later, the three enjoyed the rest of the afternoon talking and finishing all the ice cream Sean had stored in his freezer.

* * *

Sean had to call Jill to tell her what happened. As soon as Jill heard the news she came and picked Katie up even though she wanted to stay at his uncle's place for the night. When Alex found out that Jill was coming to take Katie, she had to leave. Because she didn't think that she could explain that situation to her. When Alex left, the house was all Sean's. He watched a movie on his couch and was lying there peacefully, not knowing what was about to happen.

He was startled by a knock on his front door and peeking at the clock, he wondered to himself who would be coming by his house at this time of the night. Curious, he walked to the door, swinging it open slowly.

"Alex? What are you doing here?" he asked, in shock. As he moved close enough to see her, he realized that she was crying. She was shaking and leaning on the doorframe for support.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asked her, struck by the urge to wipe her tears away. It was the same feeling he'd had when he'd first seen her dancing that fateful night. "Alex, are you hurt?"

She didn't reply. She lost her balance and was about to collapse to the floor when Sean caught her. That was when Sean realized there were blood strains on her shirt and that she'd been beaten up.

"Is it that bastard from this afternoon? Did he do this to you?" He asked, anger rushing through his veins. She didn't respond.

"I'm going to destroy him!" He yelled and picked up his phone to call the cops.

"Sean, please stop," Alex pleaded with him. She looked up him and his heart shattered into a million pieces. Her once sparkling blue eyes were cloudy and red; her beautiful face tear-streaked and frightened, all traces of the once vibrant woman gone.

"I-I didn't know who else to go. I need you, Sean. I need your help. I..." She stopped, hesitating to tell him the reason she was there.

"Alex?"

"I need you to take me to rehab." She quavered.

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his chest, moving his hands over her back. His mind was reeling, trying to process the craziness and understand what she was telling him.

* * *

**So... What do you think?**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hi!**

**I know I should update more frequently but my summers are always so busy! Hopefully I'll be able to update properly when school starts.**

**I'm going to spain today, I'm in a hurry so I couldn't wait for it to get beta-ed. I'm sorry for the terrible mistakes you'll see while reading this.**

**But enjoy :)**

* * *

They were standing in Sean's doorway, his arms still wrapped around her. A thousand thoughts crossing his mind as he held her firmly, her head pressed to his chest… He had never seen her like that. He didn't know what to do or how to think clearly. All he had was that familiar urge to comfort her, to make her feel all right.

She forgot the place and the time in his strong arms. She knew she looked desperate and she hated it. She hated that she had turned up on his door like that, but deep down she knew it was the right thing to do.

"Okay.. okay…" Sean whispered to himself, trying to pull himself together. He had a million questions but no time to search for answers. She needed his help. And she needed it that moment. He had no time to waste. That could be the longest and the hardest night he had to get through. But he would still be there for her. That he was sure of only.

Out of nowhere, Alex groaned weakly and fell backwards as spasms wracked her thin frame.

"Whoa," Sean said, picking her up and gently laying her down on one of the sofas in the living room. He then ran to his bedroom and threw everything that was on his bed to floor. Going back to where Alex was laying down, he picked her up and carried her to his room. He helped her lay down and pulled the covers up to her chin after seeing her shiver.

He watched her try to get comfortable. She was sweating and probably having trouble breathing. He needed to know how long she had been this way but he had no idea how to ask her. After waiting for a while and going through different types of questions in his head, he finally decided to just get over with it.

"Alex, I need to know… How long has it been since you last-"

"Since I last got high?" she finished his question. "Almost a day..."

She coughed and rolled onto her side with a moan, facing her back to Sean. And with that, ended their very awkward and short conversation. She shivered despite the two layers of blankets he had brought for her. She hated feeling powerless and Sean seeing her that way. She was weary, feeling small. There were small tears in the corner of her eyes, slowly building up for more. She quickly wiped them away.

He watched her carefully as she tried to control the tears that were rolling down her cheeks, and he felt helpless. Physical injuries could be dealt with. They could be cleaned or bandaged or iced. Emotional injuries, though, those were the worst. Those were what scared him the most

"I'm going to take care of everything Alex and soon all this will be over. I promise." he told her, trying to reassure them both. Alex coming to his door like that caught him off guard. He was scared to death because he didn't know what to do. He didn't know how to help her. The only thing he was certain about was that it was going to be all right. He had seen the hurt in her eyes the first night they met and since then all he wanted to do was to help her, make her pain go away so he was going to do everything in his power to make sure she will be alright.

* * *

He was having a hard time keeping his eyes open as he drove through the forest. He had spent the entire night researching for the best rehab facility while Alex pretended to sleep. He'd found a beautiful place located right in the middle of the forest out of the city.

He was concentrated on the road, thinking that she was asleep because she had her back facing him again. For some reason she was avoiding eye contact with him.

"Sean, pull over." Alex said quietly.

"Wh- is everything alright?"

"I-I changed my mind." she stuttered. "I don't want to go to rehab."

"Alex, this is what you want. This is what you asked me to do. You're just saying this because you're in withdrawal." He stayed calm. He had predicted something like that would happen eventually.

"No! That's not true! I don't need to go there. Look, I can get clean if I want to. I know what to do, Sean! I just got to let it down easy!"

"Alex, you are not yourself right now. You're not thinking clearly. You're in pain but it will all go away…"

"What do _you_ know about pain? " she snapped angrily. "You, a man who grew up in a _perfect_ family, a man who has _nothing_ to worry about... You have no idea about the pain I'm in pain Sean. Don't even think that you are helping me by dragging me into that place with those crazy addicts. You don't know how it feels like to be trapped in a place like that. So don't tell me what to do and stop the damn car!" she yelled.

He let her vent, not taking anything she said to heart. "You know I'm not going to let you get out of this car. This is the exact reason why you asked for _me_ to take you to rehab. You knew you would back out." He sighed. "I want you to get better Alex, I really do. So you can hate me if you want, but I _am_ taking you there."

"If you really cared about my wellbeing, you wouldn't make me go through that again. Pull over Sean! I need to get out!" She was now screaming at him, looking around frantically, trying to find a way to get out of the moving car. She opened her seatbelt and then her door without giving Sean a chance to stop the car.

"Alex! What the hell are you doing?" Sean yelled while trying to pull the car over to the side of the road so she wouldn't get herself killed. He heard the cars honk at his sudden move. They were lucky to be out of the city and not having so many cars on the road or else there would definitely be an accident.

As soon as the car stopped, she ran to some bushes and threw up. She hadn't been able to stomach any food so it hurt a lot. After she had finished her throat felt sore and she was sweating more than ever, except now they were cold sweats.

All Alex could think was the drugs. _Her_ drugs…She needed them so much. If she had her heroin she wouldn't be feeling like this, she would still have her dignity, she wouldn't be slobbering and drooling all over the place, falling over, vomiting everywhere… She just needed one hit.

"No, I don't need them!" she thought angrily, trying to push the negative thoughts to the back of her head.

Sean.

He was all she needed. Sean was there to help her. He said it himself; he would be with her throughout her recovery. She felt relieved when he first said that but now, she was scared.

She saw the look on his face when he saw her at his door. He still had that shock and worry in his eyes. But she could also see the fear in them. He didn't know what to do and he was in panic. Throughout the weeks Alex had tried to push him away just because she didn't want to hurt him. But now, she thought, she was succeeding in doing that. She was pushing him away, but this time not intently. This time, she needed him.

That was why she was scared to death that he wouldn't be able to keep his promise.

Just like that, she became the one who didn't know what to do. Every time she felt that uncertain, she had a tendency to run. Run away from those things that scared her. She had to go away.

She was about to run when Sean suddenly grabbed her arm.

"No, please don't walk away from me." he begged.

"Let go of me. Just..."

He pulled her towards him and held her tightly. She fought back and tried to get out of his embrace. But he wouldn't let her. He held onto her as if she would disappear if he let go.

"No. Alex. Alex, look at me. Please…"

"Don't! I've got..."

"It's okay. It's okay. It's going to be okay."

Alex was struggling with him, punching and kicking him. All she wanted was to go, to run away from everything and get a hit to make all the trouble go away. Sean was having a hard time trying to hold her, help her calm down. He tried to comfort her. He kept whispering to her that she would get through this that he was there for her. But no matter what he said, she didn't stop. She simply couldn't.

"Just let me go!"

"Go where?"

"Just let me die!" she screamed.

"I can't." He whispered back. "I can't Alex."

Then all of a sudden she stopped fighting him and allowed herself to be held by him.

"I have nothing to live for. Nothing…" She looked up to him with her glassy eyes and seeing her like this broke Sean's heart into a thousand pieces.

"They're all dead. Everyone I love is dead."

She broke in his arms and together the collapsed to the grass underneath. She burst into tears and wrapped her arms around him, hanging on for dear life.

He wiped the tears that had escaped down her cheeks and pulled her into him, hugging her and letting her cry until she was ready to let go. She buried her head in his chest and sobbed.

Sean just sat on the grass, looking at the broken figure in his arms. She looked so small, so fragile. He knew that she was hiding something from him, something from her past. But he never thought it could be drugs. He couldn't picture her in a state like that. And yet, there she was – quivering in his embrace; desperately trying to gain the control over this situation, over emotions that were threatening to spill out from her heart.

˝Sssssh…it´s okay…it´s all right…˝he whispered silently as she continued murmuring something about how much it hurt, how she couldn't take it anymore…

He didn't know what had happened in her past that made her so scared and, honestly, he didn't even care. It didn't matter. The only thing important for him right now was to take away the pain from her heart, take away that dreadful fear that was reflecting in her eyes.

* * *

"I know it's scary. But it's just 50 days. It's the best thing for you." Sean told her squeezing her hand as they walked through the doors of the rehab facility. Alex only nodded, unable to speak at that moment.

Together, they walked to the reception desk.

"I'm Alexandra Austen, I'd like to check in." She quietly said, knowing that Sean had already called and informed they were coming.

After waiting for a few minutes, a middle-aged woman came to lead Alex to her room.

"Thank you Sean. For everything…" She said with a faint smile. He smiled back.

"I will come for a visit next week." Sean managed to tell her just before she left.

* * *

"Your recovery experience is our top priority. We provide a positive and a nurturing environment as you embark on your addiction treatment. You'll start in a detox wing, and then we will move you to a regular room. You'll be assigned a therapist separate from group therapy, which means every afternoon…"

The woman kept going and going while she showed her around the facility. After a while Alex had stopped listening. She knew _exactly_ what was ahead of her. Walking in through those doors had brought all the terrible memories back. She was thinking of the old, rusty bed she used to sleep on and how much it annoyed her at nights. She thought about all the addicts that filled up the place. They were only there because it was the one facility that they could afford.

She was lost in her thoughts, staring at the woman blankly

"Alex? Alex, Can you hear me?"

She looked up and nodded.

"If you're hiding any drugs, now would be a good time to hand them over. They're going to find them anyway when you hit the detox bed."

"I-I don't have anything with me."

"Look, it's going to get worse before it gets better. But I promise you it _does_ get better."

"I know." she said, unable to control a few tears. "I know…"

* * *

**Review? Please?**


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